Chinese Drama: Love and Redemption Review

Last updated on June 5th, 2026 at 11:58 pm

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Today, we will talk about Love and Redemption, a Mainland Chinese xianxia drama released in 2020.

Several memorable dramas were released that year, including Dance of the Sky Empire and the Romance of Tiger and Rose, but Love and Redemption takes the lead.

It is one of my all-time favourite dramas.

I’ll tell you why in this Love and Redemption review blog post.

Let’s get started!

Love and Redemption Synopsis

The female lead, Chu Xuan Ji, is the Shao Yang Sect Leader’s younger daughter, who lacks six senses.

She meets our male lead, the cold and unfriendly masked Yu Si Feng, who is the head disciple of Li Zhe Palace.

Together with friends, they go on a journey to help Xuan Ji recover her six senses and get involved with the three realms: demon, mortal, and heavenly.

Main Characters – Love and Redemption Review

Yu Si Feng

Si Feng is part of Li Ze Palace, a sect that requires all its disciples to wear masks in public to hide their faces. The disciples must also be entirely devoted to the team and are not allowed to fall in love with anyone outside it.

He is a stand-out talent in his clan. His master favours Si Feng and has high expectations of him, while his master’s favouritism prevents him from forming a close relationship with his comrades.

He grew up lonely and has lived in Li Ze Palace all his life. He is cold, guarded, and unfriendly towards strangers until he meets Xuan Ji.

She gives him emotional warmth and chips away at his guard.

Eventually, he falls for her so hard that he is willing to do anything for the girl he loves.

Even for 10 lifetimes.

Chu Xuan Ji

Our female lead is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Si Feng.

Xuan Ji is optimistic, trusting, clueless, and not good at martial arts.

She can’t read between the lines like normal people can because she lacks her sixth sense. In fact, she has been ostracized by her clan because of this. As the clan leader’s daughter, the bullying isn’t severe, but the only close-age peers she’s close to are Ling Long and Min Yan.

Xuan Ji reminds me of Jinmi, played by Yang Zi in Ashes of Love, because Jinmi’s character is also clueless.

Love Story – Love and Redemption Review

Xuan Ji’s cluelessness makes the scenes supposedly romantic and funny.

It’s comical how oblivious she is. She unintentionally flirts with Si Feng; he gets shy and curls his fist, which is cute to watch.

The funny thing is that she isn’t even aware of how her actions affect him.

It’s nice to see the girl being bold for once, and their dynamic makes everything more interesting.

Xuan Ji has got some moves!

Haha, no wonder fans joke that Si Feng took the wrong script and is supposed to be the female lead.

The leads’ chemistry was surprisingly good. Maybe because I wasn’t familiar with these actors before this drama, I went in with low expectations.

Now, they’re my all-time favourite onscreen couple, along with Zhao Lu Si and Chen Zhe Yuan in Hidden Love.

These two have fantastic chemistry together.

Supporting Characters – Love and Redemption Review

There are too many supporting characters for me to cover all of them, so I picked some of the more important ones to talk about.

Chu Ling Long

Chu Ling Long is Xuan Ji’s elder sister and has a love line with Zhong Min Yan.

Zhang Yu Xi (张予曦), who played Ling Long, wasn’t the right person for this character.

There was also no older-sister vibe to Xuan Ji, despite her being protective.

Her acting also felt unnatural when she yelled in people’s faces and bantered with Zhong Min Yan. She couldn’t pull it off, and that was a good chunk of her scenes.

When she was dealing with the tragic aftermath of her abuse from Wu Tong, my opinion of her started to change. This girl acted better during emotional scenes. She is better at those types of scenes, but overall, she isn’t a stand-out actor in this drama.

Zhong Min Yan

Zhong Min Yan is part of the same clan as Ling Long and Xuan Ji. He acts as an older brother to Xuan Ji and is Ling Long’s love interest.

Honestly, there’s not much to say about the character.

Zhang Yu Xi at least redeemed herself in the emotional scenes, but the actor cast as Zhong Min Yan was flat whenever he appeared on screen.

It didn’t help that there was also no strong romantic chemistry between the two, making this character forgettable.

If the casting team had slotted someone else, I would have been okay with it.

Hao Chen

Hao Chen is the main villain and a significant supporting character in Love and Redemption.

He firmly believes that Xuan Ji does not need to recover her six senses and is stubbornly insistent that everything he does is for the three realms.

I have mixed feelings about the actor Liu Xue Yi. He always looks so angry, but I think that’s just how the character is written.

Wu Tong

He’s also one of the show’s villains.

He has this obsession with Chu Ling Long and is responsible for the PTSD she has to deal with afterward.

You might also have seen this actor in the Chinese drama Legend of Fuyao, where he played a villain once more.

I can see why casting directors pick him to play these types of characters. He does have a villainous look about him.

Teng She

Teng She is an animal God from the heavenly realm and Xuan Ji’s unwilling spirit animal.

He resents being under Xuan Ji but soon becomes her loyal sidekick, often helping her.

Bai Shu, who played Teng She, excels at portraying a snake-like character.

He also has pretty good chemistry with Xuan Ji. They are a comedic duo who banter throughout the episodes.

Hands down, Teng She is one of the show’s standout supporting characters

Liu Yi Huan

Liu Yi Huan is Li Zhe Gong’s rebel and Si Feng’s friend.

Si Feng is the type to bottle up his emotions, but Liu Yi Huan becomes a confidante. Liu Yi Huan is always on Si Feng’s side and speaks up for him when he’s being mistreated. Seeing the main lead having that emotional support is nice, especially since Si Feng didn’t grow up in a loving environment.

He also fulfilled his duty as a brother by trying to set Xuan Ji and Si Feng up. I LIVE for that.

However, his story arc wasn’t as interesting to follow. He’s trying to be a good dad to his daughter, Yu Er, who grew up without him. The daughter was annoying. She always acted like a baby, but I think she was supposed to be a teenager?

Xiao Yin Hua/Lu Yan Ran

She’s Si Feng’s pet, and she couldn’t be more annoying. She’s not a villain, but she has a bias against Xuan Ji.

If I had to pick one character I hate, it would be Xiao Yin Hua/Lu Yan Ran.

Hao Chen was the villain, but at least he kept the plotline moving. Lu Yan Ran was just too whiny and kept hurting Si Feng, even if she had good intentions.

Drama Highlights – Love and Redemption Review

1) My absolute favourite thing about this drama is the chemistry between Cheng Yi and Yuan Bing Yan. I noticed that the romantic chemistry between the two leads must be palpable in all my favourite Chinese dramas.

2) Si Feng is the best historical male character in a romance drama I’ve seen in a long time. I would even go as far as to say he’s one of the most romantic characters I’ve ever watched. He possesses all the qualities a girl wants in a guy in historical dramas: he is competent, skilled in martial arts, calm, patient, devoted, loyal, and protective. With this type of character, how can people not be in love with him?

(In all the Chinese dramas I’ve seen, and trust me, it’s a lot, Si Feng is also the male lead I’ve seen who spits out blood the most.)

3) Picking the right male lead is essential to bringing Si Feng to life. Si Feng would not have been as successful without Cheng Yi’s stellar acting skills. The way the character is written, along with Cheng Yi’s performance, is one of the reasons Love and Redemption became popular.

What Could Have Been Better – Love and Redemption Review

1) Love and Redemption felt a bit draggy at the end. After episode 54, the last few episodes were filler. There were twists and turns, like Luo Hou Ji Du, that I didn’t see coming, but that plotline felt like it was added unnecessarily.

2) Xuan Ji’s character in the beginning was frustrating to watch at times. There will be moments when you’ll get frustrated with her character. It wasn’t very pleasant for her not to understand so many things.

Also, why is she calling Si Feng’s name a thousand times a day?

3) The casting team could have picked better supporting characters for the following roles: Xiao Lan Hua, Zhong Min Yan, Chu Ling Long, and Yu Er.

Main Actors – Love and Redemption Review

Cheng Yi

While watching the Love and Redemption trailer on YouTube, I thought the male actor had to be good at acting since his mask could hinder him.

Think of the Phantom from the musical, The Phantom of the Opera.

With a mask on, the actor who played Si Feng, Cheng Yi (成毅), had to act with his eyes. Oh boy, were they expressive.

If he weren’t a good actor, it would be easy to spot right away because his face is literally covered in half.

He can display love, pain, and devotion all on his face. Even his micro-expressions were on point.

Cheng Yi has excellent acting skills. HOW is he so good?

He was undoubtedly the highlight of the drama. I would go as far as to say he is one of the best Chinese actors I have watched in a drama in a very long time.

He embodied the character Si Feng. I seriously cannot imagine who else could have played this character—fantastic job by the casting director.

He probably has gained many fans through Love and Redemption *shyly raises hand*.

I know actors tend to lose a lot of weight when playing a xianxia drama. Cheng Yi looks quite frail in some scenes.

If he hasn’t played a chronically ill character yet, he really should, as he would fit that type of character well.

There seems to be a tendency for Chinese actors and actresses to become popular after starring in a hit xianxia show.

After being in Love and Redemption, he also found success with Immortal Samsara and Mysterious Lotus Casebook, both historical dramas.

He certainly does well in this genre!

Yuan Bing Yuan

The actress Yuan Bing Yan (袁冰妍) played two characters, which required her to demonstrate strong acting chops to portray them effectively.

Xuan Ji is softer, clueless, and cute, while her other character, The God of War, is fierce.

Bing Yan suited the innocent side more. Perhaps it’s because I was too accustomed to seeing her as a lovable girl to view her as a fierce Goddess.

I do have to praise her in her fight scenes. Through some research, I discovered that she has a background in dance. It makes sense why she’s good at fight scenes, then.

An area of improvement is her crying scenes. Photos leaked on set, supposedly showing her needing eye drops to film emotional scenes. No wonder I felt nothing when she cried on screen.

I see potential in Yuan Bing Yan (she does need to work on her cry scenes, though), but Cheng Yi stood out to me so much that she didn’t really have a chance.

She didn’t give a ‘wow’ performance, but I doubt that Love and Redemption would have been as successful without her.

Comparisons with Other Chinese Dramas

Love and Redemption is often compared to Ashes of Love, as both female leads are unfamiliar with love.

There were also comparisons between Eternal Love since their love transcends several lifetimes.

The other Chinese drama in the mix is The Journey of Flower. Bing Yan has a nickname called Little Zhao Li Ying. Both female leads also had an innocent and fierce side to their roles.

Love and Redemption combined elements of all three extremely popular dramas. Taking aspects of all three can almost ensure success, so this was likely done intentionally.

Although Love and Redemption is not as famous as the other three Chinese dramas, it’s still decently successful and puts the lead actors’ names on the map.

Love and Redemption Sequel?

During the promotion period, there was a live stream/press conference with the cast (Cheng Yi faced controversy over his behaviour). The director seemed to hint that there would be a season 2.

The sequel could be set in the present day, given that they filmed a short clip titled “Love and Redemption” with Bing Yan and Cheng Yi.

I prefer historical dramas in general. However, I will not hesitate to watch a modern sequel if Cheng Yi and Yuan Bing Yan are the leads again.

Many factors contribute to a successful drama, and one of the most important ones is the chemistry between the main leads.

And they nailed it.

They can use one of their past lifetimes if they go the historical drama route again.

The ten lifetimes that bonded the main characters were extremely quick. Although they were only snippets, they make sense in hindsight.

They can’t thoroughly explore each lifetime in 59 episodes. It would be too chaotic.

It would be a good idea for future sequels, though.

Update – Unfortunately, I don’t think these two will ever partner up again. Yuan Bing Yan was swept up in a tax evasion scandal and is no longer a public figure.

Final Thoughts – Love and Redemption Review

This show, Love and Redemption, is now added to my all-time favourites list, along with Love Between Fairy and Devil. I didn’t expect to love the show so much because I was pretty unfamiliar with most of the actors, but I was pleasantly surprised.

If you haven’t watched it yet, I strongly recommend it to fans of Chinese drama.

It is a longer drama, but it’s totally worth your time!

Now to You – Love and Redemption Review

What did you think of the drama? Let me know in the comments down below!

Xoxo,
Nicole